"Stung" by Elizabeth Kolbert Annotation

     I would summarize this article as a first hand experience on beekeeping that stemmed from an article on the colony-collapse disorder. Elizabeth Kolbert read beekeeping manuals and catalogues to learn more in depth information on bees and beekeeping. She learned things such as "different "races" of honeybees, each with its own "dialect"", different diseases, different hives used to hold bees, and different bee suits from these beekeeping manuals and catalogues. Readings those was a great way for Mrs. Kolbert to gain secondary research, which to me is information that's gone through two or more people. But to get more in depth, first hand research she bought her own beehive. She says "But by that point I wasn't sure whether I was writing the story to keep bees or keeping bees to write the story" which show she was getting caught up in her writing and it became an excuse to pursue a newly found interest.
     Her research goes into details about variety of bees all with scientific names such as, Andrena florea, a small European bee, relies exclusively on the delicate white blossoms of bryonty plants. She researches different traits of honey bees; for example, Apis mellifera, meaning that it will feed on just about anything that is blooming. She also goes into details on how honey bees are very common and that they are used to pollinate crops.
     She gives examples of the dependence on bees. A good example would be how California's increasingly large almond industry is almost entirely honeybee-dependent.
    Elizabeth Kolbert describes the moving of bees, how they are typically shipped by flatbed trucks, the hives are stacked on pallets then unloaded with a forklift. But that this hard on bees and keepers expect to lose at least ten percent of his queen bees simply as a result of the jostling. A con to this is that mass movement on honeybees spreads parasites and disease.
    She uses a primary source, David Hackenber, to further her research on the colony-collapse disorder, CCD. David Hackenber gives details on how his hives grew tremendously from when he started. He tells her the amount of travel bees go through in a season.
     Mr. Hackenber was the first to see CCD. He tried to come up with a reason why it was happening but couldn't come up with anything promising.
     Mrs. Kolbert then goes to tell about her experiences on owning a hive, how she went to a bee organization meeting to gain more research. She also talked to Van Engelsdorp, a Penn state apiary inspector, who David Hackenber contacted earlier about the CCD.
     This Article was helpful for me, not for my topic of research, but on my knowledge of honeybees and how they are kept. This article could be used to shape many arguments on honeybees such as, are they being kept properly, are they being mistreated, or that is there a viral disease spreading through them that may end up being able to come in contact with humans. This topic hasn't really affected my thought on illegal immigration because it's really hard to relate to that topic, unless you think of it as a disease but that seems inhumane to me.